Electrical structure



W. DUBILIER ESL-I311 TRZUAL STRUCTURE Filed June 11, 1924 lNVENTOR Mum/v4908:2/5]? Patented Aug. 30, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE WILLIAM,mmrnmn, or NEW Y'oRx, N. Y.,

POBATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

ELECTRICAL STRUCTURE Application filed June 11,

My invention relates to electrical structures and particularly to highpotential condenser structures.

One object of m invention is to provide a device of the aliove indicatedcharacter whichis simple and durable in constructtion, economical tomanufacture and effective in its operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide an electrical condenserstructure which comprises units or sections of such charac-' ter as topermit condensers for widely different voltages to be constructed from arelatively small number of stock parts, thereby M economizing in thehandling, storing, shipping and assembling of the parts and facilitatingthe replacement of damaged members.

In high potential condensers, employed in wireless telegraph and othercircuits, it has often been the custom to construct the same as singleunits, each having the desired voltage value between its terminals and asingle insulator to support the same, A condenser of this constructionhas many disadvantages Q5 among which are the likelihood of injury ordestruction from undue electrical stresses, the expense in handling andshipping, the necessity of having to practically rebuild the device whenit is injured and the inadaptability thereof to different conditions.

The provision of a single insulator to'withstand the very high voltagesof such condensers also increases the cost and complicates themanufacture thereof, it being known r to those versed in the art, thatthe cost of manufacture of the insulator does not increase in proportionto the voltages but that it increases at a much greater rate than insimple proportion. For example, a ninety thousand volt insulator doesnot cost only three times as much as av thirty thousand volt insulatorbut many times more than three times as much. This is particularly trueof refractory insulators, such as porcelain,

(5 wherein great care in the handling and firing 1924. Serial No.719,335.

of the insulators is necessary. It is also known that large orcelaininsulators are more likely to be de ective than smaller ones. Inpracticing my invention, I provide an electrical structure, articularlyada ted as a condenser, that is Built up in the orm of a stack pile orstandard comprising distinct sections to constitute a single highvoltage device.

Further objects and advantaes of the invention are set forth in theollowing description and .the accompanying drawing, which show thepreferred embodiment of my invention; but I reserve the right to makechanges in the details of construction not necessarily shown herein butfalling within the scope and spirit of the invention, and the same isdefined in the appended claims.

On the drawin Figurel is a longitudinal sectional viewo a condenseraccording to my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 22 of Fi ure 1.

n the particular description of what the drawing presents, I employ thenumeral 1 to indicate a hollow insulating casin which may be tubular inform with open en s. This casing may be of orcelain or any othersuitable material, an it may be mounted so that its central axis isupright as shown, or in any other desired osition. The 0 en lower end isintended to e covered and c osed by a clo sure member 2 in the form of aplate of conducting material, such as metal, and a similar member 3closes the upper end of the casing or section. The complete structurecomprises a plurality of such casings in alinement with each other.

Each individual condenser or unit is indicated as a whole by the numeral4. It con sists of a number of elements or sheets of electricallyconductive material separated by insulation or dielectric, and the unitsof each casing are disposed between bottom plates or blocks 5 and topplates or blocks 6 which are 'of conductive material, and are in contactwith the bottom and top closure members 2 and 3, of the casing. Each ofthe units or individual condensers 4 may comprise groups of fiat orplane electrically conductive elements separated by insulation, eachgroup being indicated as a whole by the numeral 7 and the differentgroups being separated by intervening plates of insulation 8. Theelectrically conductive elements of each group with the insulationseparating them from one another make up a body, and one half of theelectrically conductive elements of the lower group may project at oneextremity and be brought together and joined through the lower block 5to the bottom closure 2; while the remaining half of the elements ofelectrically conductive material of this lowermost body 7 will projectat the opposite end shown as the left hand end in the drawing, and bejoined to the projecting ends of one half of the electrically conductiveelements of the body or group 7 directly above it-as indicated by thenumeral 9; the remaining half of the elements of electrically conductivematerial of this next upper group being caused to pro- 'ect at the otherend; that is, at the right, to

e joined to the projecting ends of half of the elements of electricallyconductive material of the third group 7, and so on up through the unit4, to the top group which will have the projecting ends of half of theelectrically conductive elements thereof brought into contactwith theblock 6 and thus put into connection with the top closure 3. It will beobserved that the plates 8 between the various groups 7 of each unitproject alternately in opposite directions, the lower-most plate 8 inthe lower easing 1 projecting first to the right between the first andsecond groups 7 at the bottom, because the first and second groups atthe bottom are shown as being joined together through their extremitiesat the left hand as shown in the drawing; the next upper plate 8projecting to the left, because the second and thirdgroups 7 from thebottom are joined together at the right, and so on up through the unituntil the block 6 is reached. The groups 7 of each unit are in serieswith one another: while each half of the elements of electricallyconductive material comprised' in each group are in parallel. But I may,if desired, vary the manner of arrangement of the parts of each of theunits, so long as each of the individual condensers or, units isdesigned to give the voltage and capacity required. The units 4 of eachsection are in series with the units of the other sections, and thecondenser may be built up for any desired capacity or voltage simply byassembling as many of the casings 1 as are necessary; and the condensercan be connected in circuit by joining the lowermost closure member 2 toa conductor 10, and the uppermost closure member to a conductor 11. Eachof the tuemme bular casings 1 may be round in cross-section or ,be givenany other cross-sectional shape,

and the closure members at the bottom and top of the assembledcondenser, as well as those in between the various casings 1 or sectionsof which the assembled condenser is built up, may be of slightly greatersize than the width of the sections, and the exterior of the casing ofeach section may be corrugated, as shown at 12, to increasethe exteriorsurface between the plates separating the sec; tions, and thus increasethe creepage dis tance.

With a condenser of this type, I can assemble as many sections as Iwish, and in the event that any particular section is ever damaged orits function impaired, the injured section can be removed or replaced atonce. If only a single section is employed, it will have a bottomclosure 2 and a top closure 3, but if several sections are piled one ontop of the other, asingle closure or separator plate between any twoadjacent sections is all that is needed to provide a top closure for oneand a bottom closure for the other; while the terminal blocks and 6 ofthe units 4.- of any two adjacent sections will both be in contact withthe metal separator plate between them, and thus connect the adjacentterminals of the condensers in those two sections to each other.

Instead of making the blocks 5 and 6 at the extremities of each unit4'of-solid metal, I may form them outof insulation, such as a number ofsheets of mica laid together to give the desired thickness indicated at13, and then lay against onevface of each block a plate or sheet ofmetal, such as metal foil 14, folding it over one edge and against theopposite face of the other block. This makes the block conductive, sothat if the metal foil 14 on one face is connected to the adjacentcertain advantages, which makes terminalblocks of this design,consisting partly of insulation with a metal coating, quite desirable.The corrugations 12 by increasing the extent of exterior surface of eachcasing I, contribute to the radiation of the heat which is developed inthe operation of the condenser, as well as increase the creepagedistance. Each section and the unit 4 therein will have such dimensionsthat when the closure plates 2 and 3 are placed over the open upper andlower ends. they will engage the end blocks 5 and 6 tightly and causethe unit 4 to be cl amped firmly between these blocks. and the sameresult will be obtained when the complete structure is assembled orbuilt, by piling or stacking one section on top of the other; and ofcourse any suitable means may be employed to fasten the closure orseparator plates to the ends of the casings as securely as is necessaryto seal the sections and protect the units 4 inside of them. If desired,the sections may be filled with some insulating compound such as oil, orwax, or allowed to remain empty with nothing but air spaces between theunits and the interior surface of the casing 1.

In connection with the foregoing description, it is to be understoodthat the units 4 may be made up in the form of clamped units, that isany suitable means may be pro vided to bind the various groups ofelectrically conductive elements separated by insulation and insulatorplates 8 between the groups tightly together: and in addition to fixingthe members 2 and 3 to the upper and lower ends of the various casing inany feasible manner to insure efficient electrical contact between theplates 2 and 3, the blocks 5 and 6 of the individual condensers 4 may,when the units 4 are made up as clamped units, be included in theclamping means and held together with the bodies 7 and plates 8. Inpractice the complete structure when assembled may be mounted upon anysuitable insulating support.

The members 2 and 3 are, of course, so related to the tubular casings 1,as to be really parts thereof, and I may obviously, if desired, build upanelectrical structure comprising the devices above described, in such away. that the structure may consists of a number of columns of casingsand units 4, instead of a single column as shown in the drawing. Forsuch a purpose, it is only necessary to make the closure members 2 and 3large enough to cover the ends of a number of casings 1 and then thestructure can comprise two or more columns of casings, each casingcontaining one unit 4, the various casings serving as mountings. Such amethod of assembling condenser units is, in general, shown in my priorcopending application, Serial No. 648,848 for patent upon an electricalstructure filed June 30, 1923, which application issued May 10, 1927 asPatent No. 1,628.627.

Having described my invention, what I believe to be new and desire tosecure and protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:-

1.- An electrical structure comprising a plurality of sections, eachsection including a hollow casing of insulation containing an individualcondenser or unit, the casings having open ends. members of conductivematerial for closing the ends of said casings and for separating theadjacent sections of said structure from one another, and blocks ofconductive material in each casing in contact with said members at theopposite ends of said casings and in connection with the extremities ofthe units in said casings, said blocks containing insulation, saidstructure forming a hollow column, and enclosin a number of units incircuit with each 0t er when the sections are assembled.

2. A high tension electrical condenser comprising a plurality ofserially-connected stack-sections arranged in a stack having oppositepotential ends; a casing enclosing said stack, the side-walls of thecasing lying adjacent the sides of the stack and consisting ofinsulating material formed integrally in one piece; the ends of thecasing including opposite potential condenser terminals held to theinsulating casing-walls, electrically connected to the ends of the stackand insulated from one another by the side walls of the casing.

3. An enclosed high tension electrostatic condenser construction whichcomprises a condenser casing of insulating material having oppositelydisposed openings; a 'con denser in the form of a stack of sheets andpositioned in said insulating casing to have its sides extending alongthe insulating wall of the casing and its opposite ends in the vicinityof said casing-openings; said stack being divided by insulatingseparators into sections,'and said sections being electrically connectedin series with one another by armature-connections located outside thestack at the sides thereof and facing the wall of the casing,wherebythere is a potential diiference across the ends of each sectionand a high potential difference across the ends of the stack ofsections; and two condenser terminals of opposite potential connectedwith the armatures of the two end sections of said stack and extendingthru the open- .ingsof the insulating casing; said'casing extending fromend to end of the stack and from one of said condenser terminals to theother, and preventing electrical interference of any of thestack-sections with one another or with any metal parts, and. providingwide electrical separation entirely around the stack of the oppositestack ends and of said condenser terminals of high potential difference.

4. An enclosed high tension electrostatic condenser construction whichcomprises a condenser casing of insulating material having oppositelydisposed openings; a condenser in the form of a stack of sheets andositioned in said insulating casing to have its sides extending alongthe insulating wall of the casing and its ends in the vicinity of saidcasing openings; said stack being divided by insulating separators intosections and said sections being electrically connected in series withone another by armature-connections located outside the stack at thesides thereof and facing the wall of the casing whereby there is apotential difference across the ends of each section; and two condenserterminals connected with the armatures of two end sections of said stackand extending thru the opposite openings of said insulating casing; saidinsulating casing extending from end to end of the stack, fro one ofsaid condenser terminals to the ot er and entirely around the sides ofthe stack and preventing electrical interference of any of the stacksections with one another or with any metal parts.

5. A high potential condenser unit comprising a plurality" of relativelylow potential condensers arranged face to face with one another in aunit stack as closely adjacent together as desired for compactness, thew oppositely poled armature terminals of the individual condensersprojecting laterally from the unit stack, the armature-terminals of likepolarity of adjacent individual condensers being connected togetherpermitting W the laterally projecting armature-terminals of unlikepolarity of the same adjacent individual condensers, and lying atseparated points along the length of the unit stack, to I be subjectedto relatively high potential difl ferences; in combination with anencasing means for such unit stack which means includes a member ofstructural insulating material extending from end to end of the stackalong the sides of all the individual I condensers and surrounding saidsides circumferentially and as closely adjacent as desired forcompactness to said laterally projecting armature-terminals ofrelatively high potential difierence; whereby all of the plu- 83" ralityof individual condensers are provided with a single common protectivecasing member of structural material which is non-conducting between allpoints of high potential 'difierence between the ends and along thesides of the unit stack and adjacent said insulating member.

6. A condenser comprising fiat layers of interposed insulating sheetsand conductive sheets forming a condenser stack, an open ended containerof insulating'material in which said condenser stack is mounted, andmetal closures for the open ends of said container clamping thecondenser stack therebetween.

7. A condenser com rising flat layers of interposed insulating s eetsand conductive sheets forming a condenser stack, an open ended containerof insulating material in which said; condenser stack is mounted, andmetal closures sealing the container and engaging the ends of thecondenser stack tightly between them.

8. A condenser comprising fiat layers of interposed insulating sheetsand conductive sheets forming a condenser stack, an open ended containerof insulating material in which said condenser stack is mounted, metalclosures for the open ends of said container, conductive terminal blocksat the ends of said stack engaged by the respective cloeraese sheets areparallel to the ends of the housing,

said stack being firmly clamped, and metal closures for the housing,said closures forming terminals for the condenser stack.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM DUBILIER.

